Louisiana House approves bill making it easier for inmates over 60 to get parole

State inmates who are at least 60 years old and have served at least 10 years of their sentences would be eligible for parole under a bill approved Tuesday by the Louisiana House. Lawmakers voted 65-25 to send House Bill 138 by Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge, to the Senate for more debate.

Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge

Although the state has 803 inmates who are at least 60 years old and have served more than 10 years, only 15 would be parole-eligible under the bill, which would apply to nonviolent, non-sex offenders who have completed a GED and at least 100 hours of pre-release training.

The bill has backing from the state's Roman Catholic bishops, the American Civil Liberties Union and Warden Burl Cain of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.